Hidden in Plain Sight: Re-Appropriated Spaces

The projects depicted here re-use and re-appropriate public space, filling gaps in the built environment with parks, open areas, and pedestrian walkways.

1 minute read

March 13, 2016, 1:00 PM PDT

By Philip Rojc @PhilipRojc

Allison Meier / flickr

New York's High Line is only one example of the re-appropriation of heavy infrastructure and the spaces it leaves unfilled. This piece lists nine more projects: "What these types of retrofits mean for city dwellers: that any one of them has just as much a right to the use of their city's public space as do the large-scale, heavy-duty applications that previously had exclusive claim to it."

Ross Brady continues, "As for the designs of these new spaces, the evolution of this practice owes a lot to the theoretical emergence of landscape urbanism — that is, that a city should be defined by its open spaces and that its buildings should be understood as structures that simply occur around them." The projects reuse many kinds of spaces, and that reuse doesn't necessarily spell an end to original functions. Examples include:

Queens Plaza Bicycle and Pedestrian Improvement Project; Long Island City, NY
Times Square Reconstruction; New York City, NY
Erie Street Plaza; Milwaukee, WI
Seattle Art Museum: Olympic Sculpture Park; Seattle, WA

FULL STORY: Contested Landscapes: 9 Public Re-Appropriations of Urban Infrastructure

Thursday, February 18, 2016 in Architizer

Architecture Land Use Landscape Architecture World Re-appropriated Spaces Landscape Urbanism High Line Times Square Queens Plaza Erie Street Plaza Olympic Structure Park View More

I love the variety of courses, many practical, and all richly illustrated. They have inspired many ideas that I've applied in practice, and in my own teaching. Mary G., Urban Planner

I love the variety of courses, many practical, and all richly illustrated. They have inspired many ideas that I've applied in practice, and in my own teaching.

Mary G., Urban Planner

Get top-rated, practical training

Start Learning

Advertise with us

Urban Design for Planners 1: Software Tools

This six-course series explores essential urban design concepts using open source software and equips planners with the tools they need to participate fully in the urban design process.